1996-1998: Remain email obsessed. Death of Princess Diana prompts wandering into world of internet news.

1999-2002: Remain email obsessed. Discover "internet" as time waster: games, news, clickthroughs to wormholes to who knows where. Pre-blogging tendencies becoming stronger. So much so that Nora gets herself a job as a medical writer/editor. Discovers writing about cancer does not quite scratch pre-blogging itch. New York Times becomes personal home page. Boyfriend tells Nora about thing called "Google" which really does search better than AltaVista or Ask Jeeves. Nora is in meeting at Federal gubmint where smart contractor tells fancies to please please PLEASE consider buying "cancer.gov" and fancies are all, why? Who cares? What's with this "internet" thing anyway?

2003: Nora marries nerdy technology man who had three-pound laptop back before she had completed her email homework assignment and cannot live without wireless and broadband and such. Nora remains email obsessed, though less so since no longer waiting for true love to appear in inbox. Can now check email and growing list of bookmarks while on couch. Remains surprised that she is not being discovered/signed to book deal/shipped large piles of cash via her clever emails. Reverts to games.

2006: Nora has baby. Doesn't know how her foremothers survived without internet. No longer email obsessed as increasing number of emails require her response and, like, work, and stuff. Nora accepts that the email ship has sailed for her; converts internet addiction to news, parenting, baby item shopping. And games. Disovers food blogs. Likes, does not contribute.

2008: Historic election year. Nora is election-obsessed. Discovers political blogs. Discovers Facebook. Discovers blogs that are not about being a mother or politics. Is mildly surprised that these blogs exist.

2008: Doesn't know how to end this post. NaBloPoMo and election make brain fuzzy.

Ah yes...those first emails. I remember how not-so-high-tech they seem now. But they hooked me too.

While my son was born when blogging was young, I had never heard of it. Although a friend of mine at the time was traveling the world on her own and sending email accounts home...I knew I wanted to do something like that...it was only a matter of time before I first began blogging...with a food blog!

Did it make you go out and experiment with cornbread recipes? Do you even like cornbread? (My husband and kids LOVE IT but I am able to pass on the cornbread, though not much else with the word "bread" in it).

Oh and I wanted to say that your chronology almost exactly follows mine. I was emailing as a grad student in 1989-90. I had only one friend who had a .edu email address (another grad student) and I can remember being SO excited to have ONE email in my box. Those were the days, sigh.

My friends at the time, who had long ago given up college and had settled into marriages and kids thought I was some geek-freak sending mail by computer.